Day 12 - 30-12-2011

(Skeet) Today we rode 671km from Lusaka to Mpika, roads were pretty good, we had an early start which helped a lot, we still got here after 16:00, was also my birthday today so at a stretch of road where we stopped under a very rare sight, a bridge, I got to open some birthday cards I brought from South Africa with me from my parents and my grandfather which was great, I really enjoyed being so far, yet so close to everyone.
 A large portion of the route today has just been re-tarred so we were able to cover some distance at a decent pace, only 6 Police check points today (A trick I realised was to place all my paperwork on the see-through pouch on top of my tank bag, that way when they ask you for anything, the papers are in clear view of them and they normally just wave us on, they normally do not ask too many questions when they see bikes they just wave you through), tomorrow we should be crossing over into Tanzania and then we are on the home stretch to Dar Es Salaam.